Obama sends $4T budget to Congress

The White House releases its budget proposal on Tuesday. Economics Reporter Damian Paletta risks the bitter cold to report his political and economic predictions from the source.

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The Obama administration has sent Congress a budget late on Tuesday for the next fiscal year totaling nearly $4 trillion in spending, in a move designed more to provide campaign fodder than to provide sound fiscal governance.

Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images

The budget plan, which totals $3.9 trillion for fiscal year 2015, is loaded with tax increases of almost a trillion dollars on the top tax brackets and corporate taxes yet still carries with it a project budget deficit of $564 billion after four years of trillion-dollar deficits to start Obama's time in office.

The budget was referred to as a "populist wishlist" by the New York Times. Opponents were more critical of it. "This budget isn't a serious document, it’s a campaign brochure." said Rep. Paul Ryan of Wisconsin.

Congressional Republicans immediately rejected the request, stating that the planned budget would bust limits on agency spending that the White House itself had endorsed in December. House Speaker John Boehner derided the spending plan as “a clear sign this president has given up on any efforts to address our serious fiscal challenges. Despite signing last year’s bipartisan budget deal — and touting it as an accomplishment — the president now proposes violating that agreement with a spending surge."